The Dungeon Hunters
by Paulzies
Summary: The New Continent got, well, old, and the Hunters of the Guild decided to move on. When they land in a strange new land with Dungeons, Gods, and... cat girls? The Hunters decide to set up camp and do what they do best.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a story I recently published on Spacebattles, and I decided to put it up here as well! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Prologue: The Hunters**

The people of Orario, generally speaking, were used to seeing strange events happening in their city from time to time.

Sometimes it was funny, like when two gods starting fighting in the street. Sometimes it was simply eye-raising, like when a waitress at a bar drop-kicks a particularly annoying customer out the door. Then there were the terrifying, unprecedented occurrences that people had no idea how to react to, like when Evilus was causing mayhem a few years ago.

A dark shape descending from the heavens most definitely counted as the last category.

Few people walking the streets had reason to look up as they went about their daily business. It was only when they discovered the ever-darkening shadow that seemed to swallow a significant portion of their town did they tilt their heads up to see the dark silhouette that eclipsed a large portion of the Sun.

Panic had ensued. Bells chimed, doors locked, window shades were drawn. Civilians and ordinary folk dashed into their homes as adventurers unsheathed their weapons and prepared for a fight. It hadn't happened in a long time, but Orario knew what to do when monsters were unleashed within the city.

As the object approached, the sharper-eyed adventurers realized it was not a monster they were facing. Monsters did not have balloons attached to their spines that helped them to float in the air. Monsters did not have great white cloth sails that harvested the winds to propel them through the sky. And most certainly, monsters were not made of wood, and were not supposed to have people scuttling aboard their decks.

If anything, the revelation only made them even more nervous.

Monsters, they could deal with, and _had_ dealt with many times in the past.

An invading army, on the other hand, was completely foreign territory. As adventurers, they killed monsters. They were not used to killing their own kin. At least, most of them weren't.

In times like this, the hardened warriors looked to the Guild, not their gods and goddesses, for instruction. Administrative officials, pencil-pushers, advisers... it didn't matter what people called them. They were the closest thing Orario had to a government and out of everyone else, they were the best equipped to handle hot-headed, battle-thirsty, and sometimes-stupid warriors.

The head delegate swallowed a gulp as the object touched down onto the ground. Like many others, she was born and raised in Orario. She'd never seen a ship in real life, not one with masts and sails and cannons on it. She'd gone on rowboats and canoes but they were nothing compared to the monstrosity before her. They also couldn't _fly_. A glint of sunlight caught her eyes, and her gaze was drawn to the bow where golden letters that spelled out _'_ _Argosy'_ were engraved into the hull.

The _Argosy_ was huge, bigger than the Pantheon. Ballistae, giant crossbows that were loaded with arrows bigger than swords, were installed on its top deck. The muzzles of dozens of cannons reared themselves through the many windows on its armored hull. She doubted they were the only threat the _Argosy_ had. With so much space, the _Argosy_ could probably fit a Dragon within.

She forced herself to calm down, wearing a confident, yet polite, mask as a ramp lowered down from the hull. The foreigners were probably friendly, she comforted herself into thinking. They could have rained cannonballs and arrows from the sky, but had instead willingly descended into an empty field surrounded by armed adventurers.

 _Or maybe they are just that confident of their power._

She struggled to hide her gasp. There were monsters walking down the ramp. Spikes jutted out of their shoulders and horns grew out of their heads. Sharp claws flexed as they gripped weapons almost as big as she was. She took a step back, bringing her hand to cover her mouth in horror when their leader suddenly removed his own head.

She blinked.

A charming smile. A scar-adorned face. Short white hair and sharp blue eyes. It was a human, and the object he held in his hands was nothing more than a helmet made in the cast of a grotesque monster's head. One by one, his followers took off their own helmets, revealing men and women that adorned cheerful grins.

Their armor looked terrifying, as if they had taken the skin of the beasts that lurked in the Dungeon and wore it as their own, but their disarming postures and friendly waves went far in assuring her that Orario was safe. They were fellow adventurers, no doubt about it. They looked strong and rugged. Their weapons were seemingly bigger and more unwieldy than those found in Orario, but that only spoke of their might. Perhaps they were a foreign Familia?

But if that was the case, who and where was their god?

Already, she could see the adventurers around her lowering their swords. They were undeniably human. The strange group was also observing Orario's population, and she could see looks of confusion and surprise spreading across their features.

She needed to take action. She took a step forward, and in the voice she reserved for new adventurers, she said. "Welcome to Orario. I am from the Guild, can I know whose Familia you are all from?"

The leader scratched his head in bafflement. Perhaps a language barrier?

"Familia?" No, he had understood her perfectly. "What's a Familia? We're from the Guild as well, but we've never heard of such a thing before."

Now she was the one confused. There was no way these people were from the Guild. Perhaps... another Dungeon had arisen, and with it, another Guild? No, that was impossible. Such an earthshaking event could not have stayed hidden from the Guild's eyes and ears.

"I'm sorry. But you are adventurers, are you not?"

The man smirked as a ripple of laughter spread among his ranks. "We're not adventurers," the man clarified, "we are Hunters."

She raised her eyebrows. "Hunters?" She felt her own voice going high.

The man nodded.

" _Monster Hunters_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: The Dungeon**

"It's been a whole month," Kou heard Raki complain just as the redhead slammed his head onto the table. "When is the Commander going to let us enter the Dungeon?"

"When we have enough intelligence and data," Kou replied, his voice soft and even. "The Dungeon is unlike any other place we have gone to before. It's almost as if Orario is a completely different world."

Raki looked up just in time as one of the waitresses walked past, her cat ears twitching and her tail swinging in the air. "A completely _better_ world," the man said with a lecherous grin. He suddenly frowned. "Wait... how do you think the Cat People feel about our Pelicos?" he asked.

"Raki, wipe the drool off your chin please," Tiana said sternly, her eyes never leaving the book in her hands.

Kou leaned his body slightly to catch a glimpse of the pages. It looked like an anatomical drawing of a monster, a goblin, if he remembered correctly. The table was silent, and he realized Raki was still staring at him, waiting for a reply.

"They find them... cute," he said. "At least, that is what Anakitty told me when she brought us into the Dungeon."

"Cute?" Raki sounded almost horrified. "My Nyanlord wields a fragment of Val Hazaak's tail that can melt flesh with a touch! How are they _cute_?"

"Meowmii is very cute," Tiana interjected calmly, "the Paolumu jacket I put on her pairs with her Rathalos spear very well."

Raki's eye twitched, but not at Tiana. "Wait a minute. Kou... you went into the Dungeon?"

Kou fed a few nuts to the Kinsect on his arm, the white Moth-like creature devouring it and purring gently afterwards. He nodded. "The Commander wanted to do some reconnaissance and brought me along. The goddess Loki was kind enough to lend a few of her Familia members to guide us. Anakitty was one of them."

There was a soft thumping sound, and Kou looked up to see Tiana putting her book on the table. "When was this?" she asked. Her usually strict tone was quivering a little. He could hardly blame her. They were all hunters at heart, and all this sitting around and gathering information could wear down their patience. Especially when a Dungeon that held a infinite amount of monsters was within walking distance.

"Yesterday," Kou replied. "The Commander asked me to follow him on a mini expedition. It was very enlightening."

There was an abject look of betrayal on Raki's face. "And you didn't invite me? I've been complaining to you how bored I've been everyday! Reading books, talking to people, exploring the nearby forests... I need to kill something!"

He had said that last part rather loudly, and the other patrons in the bar, the _Hostess of Fertility_ , began to shoot their table disturbed looks.

Kou sighed. "A smaller party would have been easier for the Loki Familia to handle."

"What was the Dungeon like?" Tiana asked, all the curiosity she had for her book suddenly directed towards him. "Were the monsters powerful? How deep did you go? How strong are the hunters here?"

" _Adventurers_ ," he corrected. "Not hunters." He had done it more for himself though, as a reminder that Orario was completely different from the New World or the Old Continent. "We only went to the fourth floor. The monsters there are... weak, no more powerful than the feeder mobs back in the New World. I suspect we may only start feeling the challenge past the tenth floor. There, Infant Dragons spawn, and from what I hear they are similar in strength to a Great Jagras."

He felt a pang of nostalgia. He missed hunting those giant lizards. Watching them swallow prey and ballooning to twice their original size had always been amusing.

"Pah," Raki scoffed. "What is a Great Jagras when we have taken down Elder Dragons?"

Kou shrugged. "It will only get harder from there. The Seventeenth Floor has a Floor Boss called the Goliath. He will be our first real test."

"Then we should start from there!" Raki declared valiantly. "We shall start our epic adventure into the Dungeon by destroying this Goliath!"

He could see the adventurers around them shaking their heads in disapproval. He felt inclined to agree, and he wasn't the only one.

"That is a stupid approach." Tiana mercilessly shot down his idea.

"What, why?" Raki seemed almost hurt.

"From the stories I've heard, monster fighting in the Dungeon is different from what we are used to. Our strategies and fighting styles involve fighting one, or a few, large and powerful monsters. The Dungeon prefers to overwhelm adventurers with hordes of small, weaker monsters. If we intend to progress up, or perhaps down, the Dungeon, we must adapt our tactics and our approach to suit that of our adversary's. The Dungeon is our enemy Raki, and underestimating it will only help it kill us."

Kou was surprised at how accurate Tiana's analysis was. The Commander would be pleased to know that there were Hunters that were actually doing what they were supposed to do.

Next to him, Raki sighed. "This _sucks_. At least tell me that we'll be able to kick these adventurers' asses. Their armor all look so... plain, and their weapons are so _small_."

Kou shook his head. "Some are powerful. Just like we have ranks, they have levels. But while our strengths determine our ranks, their power is defined by their levels. The ones who accompanied us were Level Fours and Level Threes. They are capable of casting magic spells that could probably erase a small town if they worked together. That is just their magic. They have unique skills and their physical traits are nothing to scoff at either." He paused, before adding, "I saw a girl break a rock with a punch."

Raki paled at the thought, while Tiana nodded her head ponderously. "I've heard that unlike us, their skills and stats are innate, while ours are derived from our weapons and our armor. They call it their Status, and only those adventurers blessed by the gods here have them." She let out a rueful sigh. "They have the backing of the gods. We do not."

"If it is any comfort," Kou said, smiling slightly, "we are all supposed to be on the same side. It's us versus the monsters after all."

Kou saw Raki glance around, noticing the glares and the frowns aimed at their table.

"Yeah," Raki sighed. "Supposed to be."

* * *

"You are a goddess?" Kou said in surprise.

"Yes!" She beamed happily. "I'm Lady Hestia!"

He looked down at the girl again. She barely reached his chest, and if it were not for her comically large breasts, he would have thought her a child. Her dress looked too small, leaving little of her figure to imagination. But he wasn't disturbed by that at all.

He stared at the loaf of bread in his hand. The loaf of bread he'd just taken a bite out of. The loaf of bread he'd just bought from a goddess. There wasn't any kind of hidden meaning or symbolism in that, was there? Did he just sell his soul away? He couldn't have, the gods were banned from using their powers in the mortal realm... weren't they?

"You sell bread," he stated calmly.

He hadn't meant any offense, but Hestia blushed, pushing her fingers together. "Well... until I get my Familia, I don't exactly have other ways to make money... which is why I need you to join my Familia!"

He would have laughed at the situation he found the goddess to be in if desperation hadn't strained her voice.

"I'm sorry," he said, hoping his sincerity actually got across, "but I don't think any Hunters will be joining any Familias. We are our own Family."

"Ah... I see." Hestia didn't even try to hide her disappointment, and Kou felt horrible about it. The girl wasn't trying to guilt him; she just seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeve.

"But if I happen to chance across any aspiring heroes in need of a Familia," he said kindly, "you will be the first I will direct them to."

Her eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Thanks! Mister..."

"Kou. You can call me Kou."

She grinned again. "Thank you, Mister Kou!"

Internally, he laughed.

The gods were kind of weird.

* * *

The _Argosy_ was almost unrecognizable. They had dismantled the ship, grounding it and renovating it so it could serve as a headquarters for the Hunter's Guild. Next to it, a few adventurers from the Hephaestus Familia were lending assistance to Morgan the Blacksmith in establishing his Forge.

From the nearby forests, the Hunters had gathered wood and other materials to build their living quarters and other basic facilities. Kou shared a small hut with Raki, though their equipment alone probably took up more than half of the living space.

"I can't wait," Raki said, sitting on his bed and sharpening his Great Sword. "We're finally going into the Dungeon."

"It's not a hunt," Kou reminded him. "It's an expedition. Remember, the goal is to explore, not to kill. And we're not to venture beyond the fourth floor."

"Why don't you ever let me have my fun, Kou," the Great Sword user grumbled out, angling his head so that his eyes looked straight down the edge of his massive blade. Seemingly satisfied with its sharpness, Raki tossed the whetstone he'd been using into his backpack.

Kou ignored him. He had his own preparations to make. It was just a low-rank expedition, but that was no reason to get overconfident. Damage was not a concern, and he steadily removed his many Attack and Critical jewels and replaced them with Vitality and Recovery ones.

He could almost hear Raki's eyes rolling in their sockets. The redhead shot him a look of disdain. "Do you honestly think these gobblers and koblydooks are going to hurt you? You're wearing your Xeno'jiva armor, aren't you? I've seen you shrug off a Rathalos' fire blast in that."

"Goblins and Kobolds," Kou corrected him, despite knowing that Raki had got it wrong on purpose. "And it is better to be safe than sorry. Hunter Rule Number One: always respect your enemy."

Raki blinked. "Is it really?"

Kou didn't actually know because nobody actually read that stupid handbook.

Luckily, a knock on the door provided a timely excuse to change topics.

"Come in," he said.

"De food gere is _delishous_ ," Fiona chimed in happily as she waltzed into their room. Her mouth was filled to the brim with food, and she had in her hands several baskets of meat skewers and fruits.

Kou remembered when their Handler used to have short and messy hair. Now, she sported a long ponytail that Kou suspected originated from a laziness to cut it. A mew came from behind, and he smiled when Neko stumbled through the door, his paws burdened with extra bundles of food Fiona had no doubt dumped onto him.

Nyanlord came stumbling after, the pudgy Pelico struggling to balance a pile of fruits in its paws while trying to eat a skewer.

"Nyanlord!" Raki called out. "I was looking for you the whole morning."

"Food," Nyanlord meowed out shamelessly. "Orario has good food, meowster!"

Kou suppressed his laughter when he saw Raki glare at Fiona, who was blissfully unaware of it. Their Handler had always been a little bit airheaded, and he couldn't remember how many times he'd had to shove her away from the jaws of a Deviljho. "Come on boys, we're going to the Hostess. I've got our brief for tomorrow, and Tiana and Erza are waiting for us there already!" And then, as jovially as she had coming in, Fiona skipped out their hut, her arms still hugging her tidbits close to her chest.

"Come on, Neko," he gestured towards his Pelico, who then jumped onto his back. "To the Hostess we go."

* * *

Tiana and Erza weren't alone.

They were surrounded by a group of adventurers Kou recognized as the Loki Familia. At least he assumed they were. He only knew Anakitty. With Tiana isolating herself in her book, Erza was tanking most of the discussion. Kou didn't think she minded it. The Hunting Horn user was most comfortable when surrounded by people. It seemed she was regaling to the adventurers one of their more recent hunts, a Tempered Deviljho.

"And then," the bespectacled girl said exaggeratedly, "we saw this giant walking cucumber jumping from one hilltop to the other. It sailed above us, but my quick thinking and fast reflexes sent him crashing to the ground with a well-timed Flash Pod. After that-"

"False." Tiana suddenly interrupted. "The Deviljho fell to the ground because Kou sent his Kinsect to attack it. And there are no hills in the Ancient Forest. It merely leaped from one rock spire to another."

Laughter suddenly erupted among the crowd as Erza's face turned deep red. "Tiana! I thought you said you were going to focus on your book! I can't believe-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw them. "Oh, Kou, Fiona, you're here." Erza waved to them cheerfully.

"Wait. What about me? You missed me out," Raki said.

Completely ignoring him, Erza pointed to Kou. "And this is the Hero of our Commission, our legendary Insect Glaive User who solo-ed an Elder Dragon. Kou, say hi to the Loki Familia!"

"Anakitty," he nodded politely to the Cat Girl, who shyly responded with a wave. After that, Kou found himself frowning. It hadn't been his choice to solo Xeno'jiva. And he seriously doubted it counted as a _true_ Elder Dragon, considering it had been a newborn.

"A hero, eh?" Another girl squeezed her way into the front, her orange hair tied into a pony tail. She didn't give off the impression that she was an adventurer. Her eyes were remarkably small, and they squeezed themselves into thin lines as she scrunched up her face and gave him a studious look. "You look too young to be a Hero."

"I'm sixteen," he said, choosing to take her words as a compliment.

"Sixteen? That's Ais' age!" The girl immediately yanked a blonde who had remained quiet the whole time in front of him, swiveling her head as she alternately looked at them.

Kou immediately felt uncomfortable at the proximity—the complete lack of any—between him and Ais. Ais seemed completely neutral, as if being dragged and shoved around by her strange orange-haired companion was normal.

After a while, she gave a satisfied nod. "Ais is prettier."

Kou had no qualms about that.

"Lady Loki," one of the adventurers—an... elf?—said. He sometimes struggled with the races, but the sharp and long ears was something only elves had, right? "I think we are interrupting their meeting."

He blinked. Lady Loki?

He looked down at the tomboyish and unlady-like girl still grinning at him.

"Loki's a god right?" Raki whispered into his ear.

Kou rolled his eyes as he nodded. There was a common saying that the bigger the weapon, the dumber the Hunter. He wasn't the type to believe in stereotypes, but Raki was making it increasingly difficult.

Loki flushed red. "I'm a _goddess_. I have boobs! You wanna feel them?"

To his horror, Loki began to squeeze her own breasts in front of them, and while admittedly small for a female, they were female breasts nonetheless.

"Can I?" Raki asked excitedly.

Kou felt his jaw drop at both their audacities. A quick slap to the head by Tiana sent Raki to the ground as Loki shook her head.

"No way! The only mortal who I'll ever let touch these babies is Ais."

The rejection was as brutal as it was disturbing. Kou turned to face Ais again. Her lips twitched downwards to form the smallest of frowns. His initial impression of Ais was a quiet, docile girl. Perhaps he'd been mistaken, and that there was more than meets the eye between the adventurer and her goddess.

"Lady Loki," the elf said quite sternly. "You are giving the Hunters a bad impression of us."

"Blegh. They started it."

Kou was certain of it now. All the gods and goddesses were strange beings.

* * *

Loki had left soon after that, along with her entourage of adventurers.

Well, most of them, at least.

"Um..." Erza began hesitantly, not really knowing how to phrase her question.

Luckily, Kou's party had Raki, and like any good tank, he was willing to take one for the team. "You're a nosy one, aren't you? We're planning an expedition here."

Anakitty, the Cat Girl, had stayed. The reason was fairly obvious.

"But your Pelico Cats are all so cute!" she gushed, taking turns to rub their bellies as they lay on the floor.

Kou shot Neko a stern look. His Pelico rolled the other way, making a purring noise to draw Anakitty's attention, and with it, her gentle fingers.

"I remember you, Neko! Are you excited to return to the Dungeon?" she cooed.

Kou decided to redirect his attention to their other visitor.

"And you?"

This one wasn't from the Loki Familia. Honestly, Kou had no idea who he was, only that he had suddenly decided to appear besides their table. He definitely wasn't an adventurer.

He lacked the muscles. The scars. The calluses. The boy was probably as pure as his snow-white hair.

The boy gulped. "You guys are Hunters, right?"

"Ah, so you've heard of us," Fiona said happily. "We're famous now!"

Kou doubted there was anybody in Orario who hadn't heard of them by now, not with the uproar they caused when the _Argosy_ had descended.

"You guys are strong, right?" The boy looked caught between admiration and fear.

"Of course!" Raki absolutely preened under the praise. "We're the strongest Hunters there are!"

"Then please!" The boy bowed down stiffly. "Teach me how to be a Hunter!"

Kou hadn't expected that at all, and the stunned looks on everybody else's faces told him that they felt the same.

"Uh... don't you want to be an adventurer? I mean, Hunters are the best, but... well, this is an adventurer city, and we haven't even gone into the Dungeon once. You're better off being an adventurer." Erza was the first to recover from shock, though her last sentence seemed to have stung the boy.

"I'll work hard. I promise!" Still, the boy did not budge.

Kou exchanged looks with the others. The boy was too old. Most Hunters started training before they turned eight. He lacked the muscle to even lift a Great Sword. It wasn't a lack of talent or diligence. It would simply be a bad investment.

Unsurprisingly, it was Fiona who spoke next. They were Hunters; they were used to dealing with other Hunters and unintelligent beasts. As a Handler, Fiona had a bit more experience talking to human beings.

"What's your name?" she asked gently.

"Bell Cranel," the boy said unflinchingly. But Kou could already see the disappointment in his eyes.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

Kou hid his wince. Neither Raki nor Erza managed to do so and Bell visibly deflated.

"What my friends are trying to say is that we don't know enough to take you in. We're only just starting to learn about the Dungeon, and it would be irresponsible for us to train you when we know so little about the dangers inside as well." Kou had to give credit where it was due. Fiona could be sensitive when she wanted to. If only she could apply that awareness out in the field, too. "To become truly strong, you should join a Familia."

The boy mumbled something, but it was too soft for Kou too hear.

"Can you repeat that?" Fiona leaned in closer.

"None of the Familia want me."

Kou perked up. "Have you tried asking Lady Hestia?"

The boy spun his head to look at him, as did everybody at the table, except Anakitty of course, who had long since zoned-out of the conversation, too busy basking in her feline heaven. "Lady... Hestia? I've never heard of her," Bell admitted rather guiltily.

"She's a new goddess," Kou informed him. "She sells bread near the Pantheon. She seems quite desperate for Familia members. She asked me to join."

The Hunters at the table shot accusatory looks at him.

"I said no, of course," he clarified. Then he smiled at Bell. "But I'm certain that she's more than willing to take you in."

The white-haired boy's eyes immediately lit up, and Kou could almost sense the hope and relief flooding into Bell's scrawny body.

"I'll find her," he declared. "Thank you, Mister Hunter! I'll see you in the Dungeon soon!"

With that, the boy burst out the door, and Kou could still hear his whoops of joy trailing behind him.

Raki snorted. "He's a little bit too innocent, isn't he? I don't think he's going to live long in the Dungeon." His words, while sharp and crude, were not wrong.

Erza frowned. "Don't say that! I used to say the same about you, and somehow you've defied the odds."

Kou tuned out their ensuing arguments. He could see the worry on Tiana's face even though she was trying to hide it behind her book. He had seen many Hunters like that. Hunters that faltered and dropped their guards when the monsters they were hunting began to whimper. Hunters like that did not live very long.

For once, Fiona seemed to have lost her appetite, instead choosing to poke at her food mindlessly.

"I hope he isn't going into the Dungeon tomorrow," she mumbled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2: The Dungeon**

They had amassed quite the crowd.

Kou tried to ignore the looks that everybody was giving them.

Over forty Hunters walking out of the Dungeon with slumped shoulders and disappointed faces... rumors were bound to spread.

"We collected so much loot today, meowster!" Neko said happily next to him. Indeed, the little pouch his Pelico carried was filled to the brim with magic crystals and the occasional drop. The Pelicos were probably the only ones happy after the expedition; the little cat warriors loved nothing more than to collect shiny trinkets from the ground.

After a months of travelling and waiting, everybody had been eager to resume the hunt. The words of the adventurers had deluded them with tales of an infinite supply of monsters that could slice a careless adventurer into two.

In reality, an unending swarm of Goblins and Kobolds meant nothing when their attacks did no damage at all.

He could see why rookies would have difficulty against them. Their high mobility and small size made them difficult to hit. But when his armor was made from the hide of an Elder Dragon, their attacks couldn't even halt him in his tracks. In the end, their experience on the fourth floor had been nothing more than an endless repeat of slashing. There was no need to dodge, no need to resort to the gadgets in his utility pouch, no need to even heal.

It had been a let down, and he longed for the taste of a _real_ battle.

"That was... boring," Tiana remarked besides him. After a while, the Bow and Arrow user had realized using her arrows would be a waste of ammo, and had elected instead to just use the dagger strapped to her back. That kind of arrogance would have gotten her killed in the Old World, but it seemed as though they were... what did the adventurers call it? 'Over-leveled'? for the Lower Floors.

Everybody had felt frustrated. With his cumbersome Great Sword, Raki had probably killed the least mobs, even if each slow, massive downward strike had caused the monsters to erupt into massive showers of blood and gore. Erza had probably felt useless. Her Hunting Horn had been reduced to a mere Hammer, for her melodies had no use in an environment where every mob could be one-shotted and could deal no damage.

Kou was certain that he had killed the most. He hadn't bothered to send his Kinsect out to collect the Extracts that would've buffed him. Instead, his Pseudocanth had preened in joy when he had given it permission to fly around as it pleased, severing limbs and scattering Explosive Dust all over the place. The wide attack arcs of the Insect Glaive had proved to be useful against the pesky Goblins and Kobolds, and each swing caused multiple enemies to crumble into dust.

Still though, the purpose of the expedition had always been educational in nature. The kill count had not mattered. Instead, they had focused on exploring the environment, hoping to discover any useful resources they could exploit within the Dungeon. It would have alleviated the worries of the Chief Botanist that they would have to grow and harvest all their organic resources themselves.

It had not been the case, and he felt pity when he realized the Botany department would have to cultivate all the necessary insects, herbs, berries, and mushrooms needed for their ammo and utility items. Then again, with no space constraint for their base camp, it would not be such a daunting task. Perhaps they could even sell their products to the adventurers, earning revenue for them. He was certain Flashflies and Flashpods would be wildly popular among adventurers.

They had learnt more than that, unfortunately. The Hunters would need to adapt. While the monsters now were harmless, it wasn't going to stay that way for long. Existing strategies would have to be modified to factor in the increase in enemies. New crowd-control tactics would need to be thought up, and then practiced. With everybody's attention split on different enemies, the risk of friendly fire was drastically higher, and people were just more likely to get in each other's way than the converse.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but as veteran Hunters, they were rather glad that they discovered all these areas for improvement before they actually met a challenging enemy.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Word spread.

More than a few adventurers had seen the imposing and massive amount of magic crystals the Hunters had dumped onto the Guild's desk. They had emerged from the Dungeon with hardly a hair out of place, and seemed almost... bored.

They had not been alone in the dungeon. The few rookie adventurers that had had to compete with the entire Hunter expedition had often found themselves marveling at the lack of monsters and the ruthless ease the Hunters eliminated them with. Tales of exploding weapons, summoned lightning bolts, and invincible Hunters began to fill the taverns in Orario.

The Hunters were strong, and many were not happy with the increase in competition.

Hushed whispers followed where ever they went. Glares studied their every move. Scowls darkened every room they entered.

Schemes were plotted. Lies were proliferated. For weeks, the talk of the town was the Hunters and their undeserved strength.

Even the Loki Familia's expedition into the unexplored region of the Deeper Floors was suppressed.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kou wiped the sweat off his brow.

The Commander had finally given in.

Unrestricted access across the first nine floors of the Dungeon.

The rest had long since gone back to eat, including his Pelico. He wasn't done yet.

He was on the ninth floor, the highest they were allowed to go, and as long as he still saw monsters, he would continue to be here. The difference in difficulty was noticeable, and the stone swords the higher-ranked Goblins and Kobolds wielded here were actually capable of inflicting pain.

It was a novel experience, since even the poison inflicted by the Purple Moths on the floors below him could be negated by the right Mantle or an Antidote.

How many times had he seen a Hunter die?

How many times could he have stopped it?

Too many. Too many deaths. Too many wasted lives. Too many missed opportunities to save people because he wasn't strong enough.

Just because he had succeeded in the New Continent did not mean he would succeed in the Dungeon. He had to get stronger.

A slight shift in air pressure caught his ear. Instinctively, Kou sidestepped to the right and a stone sword swung down and missed him by mere millimeters. The Kobold holding it made a sound of surprise, and he stepped on its sword-wielding hand, taking pleasure when a bone-crunching sound rang out and the Kobold roared in pained fury.

A swing of his Glaive decapitated it. He flicked the blood off his weapon. A pointed spear on one end, an axe blade on the other. There were few Glaives that were as multi-purpose as this one. He still remembered the day when he had killed the Black Diablos which the Glaive had been made from. His party had been exploring the low-ranked areas of the Wildspire Wastes, trying to catch a Barroth for research purposes. He didn't know what a high-ranked Black Diablos had been doing there, but the moment they sighted it, the mission had been aborted.

Except the Black Diablos had seen them, and its ear-piercing roar had disoriented them long enough for the monster to charge towards them. He had bought his party time to escape. It made sense, for his ability to leap and vault into the air gave him the highest chance of survival. But try as he might, when it came to his own time to run away, the Black Diablos had been relentless.

If escape wasn't possible, there was only one other way.

When the rescue party had come the next day, all they had found was his bloody, collapsed body lying next to the corpse of the Black Diablos, a shattered Kadachi Glaive still gripped tightly within his unconscious hand. He may have lost his first Glaive that day, but the one he got in return was more than worth it.

He looked around. Not a monster in sight. The unnatural silence screamed at him. Something was not quite right, and he could feel the chill up his bones.

His stomach grumbled. With the monsters around him all slain, he had every excuse to return to Orario to enjoy a hot meal and a cold shower. Yet, he couldn't shake away the uneasiness within him.

He pressed on. The last time he had felt this way, he had found the nest of an Elder Dragon, and was forced to slay a newborn Xeno'jiva.

For a while, his footsteps were the only thing that echoed within the dimly-lit caverns of the ninth floor. Even if his party had been here for hours, the lack of any monsters at all was disorientating. They hadn't killed that much, had they?

When the sound of running reached his ears, he almost welcomed it, and readied his Glaive in response.

Two adventurers broke through the darkness, their clothes bloody and panic in their eyes. Kou did not let down his guard, there were enough stories floating around to know that the camaraderie between adventurers was not as strong as that of the Hunters. To his surprise, they completely ignored him.

"Minotaur!" one gasped out as he ran past. "There's a Minotaur there! RUN!"

His blood chilled. A Minotaur? He hadn't seen one before, but he'd done his research. Wasn't that from the Middle Floors?

He began to run forwards into the darkness. The sound of battle could faintly be heard, and worry began to rise within him. The adventurers here were all supposed to be around Level One, and a Minotaur was not an opponent they could handle by themselves.

The room was suddenly flooded with light, and he raised his hand to avert his eyes from the sudden glare. The sound of metal striking riled the Hunter within him, and he drew his own weapon.

A lone adventurer stood in the cavern, wielding two daggers as he blocked a blow from the Minotaur. With a bull's head on a humanoid body, he found himself strangely reminded of a Diablos, especially when it leaned forwards and charged, using its horns as a battering ram. He suddenly recognized the boy. Bell Cranel, the young, white-haired adventurer that had came to him for help more than a month ago.

Kou was pleased to see he was alive, though a frown appeared on his face when he realized the perilous situation Bell was in.

He glared, not at Bell, but the crowd of bystanders doing nothing at the edge of the cavern. He was surprised when Ais Wallenstein, the star of the Loki Familia was among them. He walked over, realizing that he knew some of other people as well, such as the pair of dark-skinned sisters he'd learned to identify as Amazoness. The Loki Familia then.

"Why aren't you helping?" he demanded to know.

The werewolf replied. "Stupid brat doesn't want us to. Thinks he's a hero and that he can solo the Minotaur himself."

Kou raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to let him?"

"We don't have a choice." This time, a green-haired elf responded. "Hunting another adventurer's prey is against the rules of the Dungeon."

"Bell can do it."

Ais' voice was soft, but full of confidence.

"I believe in him."

Reluctantly, Kou could do nothing but stand with them and watch as well. If even the Level Sixes were forced to obey the rules, then he wouldn't interfere unless Bell's life was in immediate danger.

Watching the Minotaur, Kou tried to gauge its difficulty level. While it behaved like a Diablos, it was anything but. The Diablos was massive, and its tail could flatten the Minotaur if it wanted to. Its horns could pierce and break through boulders, and its annoying ability to dig and burrow underground made its movements extremely unpredictable.

The Minotaur had nothing on it, and if he had to compare, he supposed he would classify it on the same threat as a Gastodon, an annoying dinosaur with an armored head that liked to disturb Hunters mid-fight.

A mere annoyance for him, though for a Level One, it was way out of Bell's League, and he was proven right when the Minotaur's sword destroyed one of Bell's daggers.

"Bell!"

Kou looked down. A female Pallum, with her bloody face looking more worried than any of the others. One of Bell's party members?

"Mister Hunter."

Another Pallum was talking to him, this one a blond boy with blue eyes. "I'm Finn, captain of the Loki Familia."

That would've made him Level Six at the bare minimum, which Kou knew was one of the highest levels.

"I'm Kou," he introduced. Despite the start of a conversation, Kou kept his eyes fixed on Bell, ready to step in at a moment's notice.

"Do you think you can kill a Minotaur?"

Kou watched Bell throw a Fireball spell into the Minotaur's face, using the ensuing smokescreen to readjust his position. Clever use of an otherwise under-leveled spell. The introduction of magic was something the Hunters were still getting used to. It wouldn't affect them as much, since the Monsters they had hunted always had a few tricks up their sleeves, from breathing fire to summoning an apocalyptic comet. But seeing adventurers use it did make him feel a bit jealous. The ability to summon water would prove to be priceless against a Teostra, and he was certain there were other spells that could tilt a battle against the monster's favor.

But against a Minotaur? The inability to use magic wouldn't have affected him in the slightest.

"Probably," he said, not wanting to sound arrogant. "I've fought harder monsters in the past." Kou doubted he'd said a grander understatement in his life.

If Finn was surprised, he did not show it.

"I will take your word on it then," the blond said. "Then I wish to ask for your opinion. What do you think of Bell?"

Watching Bell fight, Kou had to admit he was impressed, given that he had only started barely a month ago. The white-haired boy fought like a Dual Blader, rolling and dodging, sometimes even jumping away from the Minotaur's swings and unleashing a flurry of attacks with his lone dagger. The Minotaur was a small monster, so blocking with such a puny weapon was viable, though he hoped Bell understood that such an approach was inadvisable for larger monsters.

"He is decent," Kou admitted. Still, it was clear he was still outclassed. "But his opponent is still too strong. His dagger is only causing cuts and grazes, while the Minotaur only needs one good strike to end him. If it falls into a battle of attrition, Bell will lose."

"That dumbass. If this Hunter dude can see it, why can't he?" The werewolf shook his head. "Somebody needs to tell him to stop acting like a hero."

"And what if I told you he only has one and a half months of experience?" Finn asked.

Kou already knew that. "With no context to compare with, I don't know how to judge his progress," he admitted.

One of the Amazoness, the one with smaller breasts, took the opportunity to chime in. "Well, Kou. For comparison's sake, the fastest time it took for someone to reach Level Two is currently one year!" She put a hand on Ais' shoulder, "which was done by our very own Sword Princess. Meanwhile, we have Mister Argonaut here, a rookie Level One, who is currently fighting one of the strongest Level Two monsters and still not dead."

Mister... Argonaut?

"Don't mind her," the werewolf yawned. "She gives nicknames to everybody."

Finn was still looking at him, and Kou felt compelled to answer. "It's astounding," he confessed. "If what you say is true, then he's a prodigy."

Finn sighed. "I thought so. I suspected at first the sudden arrival of the Hunters might have confused the Falna and its power system, but if Bell's progress is exceptional even among your kin, then it shouldn't be the case. His increase in skill is simply unprecedented."

There were a lot of questions Kou had about that statement, but the fight with the Minotaur took a sudden turn.

Bell had somehow disarmed the Minotaur and was now holding its weapon, a sword almost half his height.

Silence descended and all eyes returned to the fight, riveted in attention.

The Minotaur's eyes seemed to glow red, and suddenly it was on all fours, kicking its hoof. Kou recognized it immediately. It was something an enraged Diablos did before a charge, and true to his prediction, the Minotaur rushed towards Bell.

Kou expected a dodge. It was what he would've done, for only the shields of Lancers and Gunlancers could take the full force of a Diablos and remain intact. Instead Bell had charged straight towards it.

"So young," the elf shook her head.

"That idiot..." the werewolf cursed.

Kou was already rushing in. This was a common bad habit among new Hunters. The moment the tables turned and they thought victory was assured, they would suddenly throw caution to the wind and fight the monster in the most reckless fashion possible. It was a stupid way to die, and Kou wasn't going to let Bell die from stupidity.

A single arm stopped him, and when he tried to pry it off his shoulder, he found the tip of Ais Wallenstein's sword pointing at his throat.

"He's going to die," Kou said unflinchingly.

"He's going to be okay," Ais Wallenstein returned.

It didn't matter anymore. Too much time had been wasted in that exchange, and the Minotaur and Bell were already face-to-face.

Gripped with horror, Kou watched the entire scene unfold in slow motion. Bell swung the his newly acquired sword right at the Minotaur's snout. The monster in turn, angled its head slightly such that the sword shattered harmlessly against its horn. That movement bought Bell enough time to slide into the nook between its head and its shoulder, and he swung his dagger down at the Minotaur's neck.

Such carelessness. A feeling of hopelessness arose within Kou. Many Hunters had thought that dodging the charge of the Diablos was enough, and more than a few of them had died with surprised expressions of their faces as a flick of its head sent its horn impaling through their bodies.

His premonition did not come through. It was a clever feint, and Bell sunk to the ground as the Minotaur swung its head, and all of a sudden Bell was underneath the Minotaur, his dagger embedded within the gut of the monster.

"Fireball."

An explosion rang from within the Minotaur. Whereas the fire had once been too weak to get past the skin of the Minotaur, the insides were a completely different matter. It screamed in pain as a shower of blood and burnt entrails shot through its mouth.

"Fireball!"

Its skin glowed orange with heat, and Kou could hear its blood boiling as its eyes exploded.

"FIREBALL!"

The Minotaur was engulfed in a giant explosion. All that was left of the bovine monster was a pair of legs still standing on the ground before they disintegrated shortly after. The Loki Familia was in stunned silence as everybody realized that Bell had somehow passed out standing up, his dagger clattering uselessly to the floor.

Idly, Kou wondered if the state of shock and disbelief he currently felt was what the Commander had felt when he'd found his own prone form next to a slain Black Diablos all those years ago.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Ais."

The blond girl turned, and Kou wondered if the girl's face was locked in that perpetual blank expression.

"How did you know that Bell would win?"

Bell was gone, the Amazoness sisters had seen to it that he and his Pallum companion would exit the Dungeon safely. Bete, the werewolf, was suddenly in a bad mood, and was kicking rocks around the cavern to calm his temper. Riveria, the elf, and Finn were in the middle of a conversation but stopped when he had approached Ais to ask his question.

Ais cocked her head. "Because Bell wanted to."

Kou was stunned.

"Still, Ais. That was very risky of you," Riveria said, walking over. "There was no guarantee that Bell would have survived that last exchange. Kou was doing the right thing by trying to save him."

Ais shook her head.

"The easy and right way to do things are different. Belle needed to this. For his own sake. His dream of becoming an adventurer depended on it. If Kou had saved him... I think it would have broken him."

Kou glared at Ais, and she stared back. After a brief battle of wills, he finally sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. The Minotaur is dead and Bell is alive. Everything ended up okay."

"No!" Bete suddenly shouted. "It's not okay! Did you guys not see that? A Level _One_ just killed a Minotaur! That's not supposed to happen!"

"He's an extraordinary Level One, though I suppose he's Level Two now," Finn said calmly. The leader of the Loki Familia walked towards Kou. "Kou. We're on an expedition to the deeper floors. I'd like to officially invite you to join us in our battle against the Floor Boss on Floor Seventeen."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N:** **So, not much Hunter Badassery here (I promise, it'll come soon!) It's stlll mainly about the Hunter integration. This chapter actually focuses on character building for Kou (our main character, in case you haven't figured out yet) and the start of his relationship with the Loki Familia (There'll be other Familias in the future as well). Anyway, can somebody tell me how this reply function works in the thread?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3:** **Kou**

Bete leaned his head back into his hands. "Finn, what were you doing, just inviting that random Hunter to clear the Floor Boss with us like that?"

The Pallum kept quiet, his fingers rubbing his chin as he remained deep in thought. He hadn't expected a flat-out rejection.

"I'm more surprised he said no," Riveria admitted next to him. The Elf still seemed to be in a slight state of shock. Watching that Level One, Bell, defeat the Minotaur had been inspirational for them all. "If he had joined our party, it would have been a free kill for him."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ais squat down at the powdery remains of the Minotaur, picking up a handful of ash and letting it fall back onto the ground. Kou had left a while ago but until Tione and Tiona returned, they would wait here.

Finn felt terrible. Honestly, their attention should have been on Bell, the Level One who did the impossible. Without a doubt, when word of his miracle reached Orario, it would spread like wildfire. Yet the black-haired, ruby-eyed Hunter who called himself Kou had captivated his attention the moment he arrived. It was subtle, and he doubted the rest of his Familia had noticed. They had probably been watching the battle, but Finn had decided to observe the Hunter instead.

The way his eyes darted throughout the fight, following each and every action that occurred. The way he had remained calm, even when things were looking south, and only jumping in to save Bell at the last moment when the situation seemed unsalvageable. The way Kou hadn't even looked the slightest bit worried at the Minotaur's presence on the ninth floor.

It spoke of a quiet confidence, and that sort of assurance didn't come from personality. It came from experience, and it would appear the Hunters had it in ample supply. He wondered what kind of monsters they had fought in their old world, how terrifying and powerful they had to be for Kou to look at a Minotaur as a mere hindrance. While there were rumors flying around, that was all they were. Rumors.

"I wanted to test him. I thought it was a good way to gauge his strength. And also to determine if he would be a worthy addition to our Familia."

Riveria pursed her lips. "It seems he has no intention of leaving the Hunters."

"Yeah," Bete snorted. "'The Commander hasn't given us permission to go past the ninth floor'? What a dork. C'mon Finn, there's no reason to take him in, I mean, the Hunters aren't even blessed."

"Probably not," Finn agreed. "But it doesn't hurt to try."

* * *

Kou liked Morgan. Though to be honest, it would have been stupid for any Hunter to dislike their Blacksmith.

The short, stout man was easy to get along with, and Kou couldn't count the number of times his life had been saved by the unbreakable sets of armor that had been forged under Morgan's hammer.

Still, this was one of the few times Kou found himself frowning at him.

"Morgan, I thought I told you I don't want this. Give it someone else."

The sight of the armor filled him with regret, and he quickly averted his gaze so Eugene's death wouldn't keep replaying itself in his mind. It was his fault Eugene had died. If only he'd listened to the Commander then, his jovial friend might still be alive today.

Morgan placed a hand on the shining blue metal and its polished sheen seemed to glisten at his touch. "Nobody wants it. They all agree it's yours. It's one of my finest work, and it'll be a shame if nobody actually wears it."

"Then you shouldn't have made it," Kou countered.

"We're _Hunters_ , Kou. If we don't make use of our spoils then we'd just become murderers. We'd be no better than the monster that this Drachen armor is made from."

Behemoth.

Kou winced at the name. It was an ungodly creature, a monster through and through. It existed only to destroy, and unlike the Deviljho or other Elder Dragons, it had no place in the food chain. It did not eat, yet every waking moment of the horned demon was spent wreaking havoc.

It had killed four Hunters in a single blow when it had called down an Ecliptic Meteor as they were stunned, and no traces of them had been found afterwards. Seven Hunters dead, twelve permanently maimed. Every single one of them had been an A-list Hunter wearing top-class equipment and wielding weapons forged from the parts of apex predators. He shuddered when he thought about the ramifications if the Behemoth had actually spawned in a more populated part of the world.

The Hunters' fight with it had reshaped the entire landscape of the New World, even more so than their battle with Zorah Magdaros, which could only be described as a walking volcano. It was in the wake of the battle, when entire swathes of forests were replaced with craters, when ash blocked the Sun from the sky, when monsters fled at the sight of humans, did the Guild realize that they'd come so close to destroying the ecosystem that it was time to move on from the New World.

And so they had left, in search of a new land where they could continue their mission to explore and to catalog the many different species of wildlife that existed. A fresh start, and yet the past seemed persistent in haunting him in the form of an eerily beautiful set of armor.

"What were the parts you used to make it?"

Morgan kept quiet for a while. "Bone. Fang. Hide. Gem. Plate. Horn," he listed off.

Kou felt his eyebrow rise. A very important piece was missing. "No claw?" he asked.

Morgan swallowed, stepping aside and gesturing at something still in the burning inferno necessary to melt down monster parts. It was red-hot, but Kou knew immediately what it was. The sleek and long design was found in no other weapon, and Kou recognized that Morgan was creating a new Glaive. One forged from the claw of Behemoth.

The very claw that been used to cut Eugene in half.

The weapon was tainted with the blood of his friend, and seeing the metal encased in fire only added to the rage that was beginning to ignite within.

"You could have made any other weapon," Kou said through grit teeth. "Why make a Glaive?" There was only one Hunter that used the Insect Glaive after all.

Morgan sighed. "Eugene used to talk to me a lot. Always bothering me while I made his armor. It was annoying then, but now I find myself missing his incessant yapper." The blacksmith looked back guiltily at the work-in-progress. "I can't imagine how you feel, since he was your best friend and all. I thought... I thought you'd want him close to you."

As a pro-Hunter, Kou knew how to keep his temper in check, but he felt his blood boil at that statement. Eugene's blood was figuratively on his hands already, and the last thing he needed was to physically hold the very weapon that had killed him. He took a deep breath to calm down. He was still grieving, but so was Morgan; everybody had their own methods.

"Keep it out of my sight," he said coldly. "And never mention it to me again until I say so."

Morgan nodded, a tinge of fear in his eyes, but Kou felt he was already being generous.

He should have never gone to investigate the Behemoth by himself, against orders, and that was a mistake he was never going to make again.

* * *

"So... what does an Infant Dragon look like again?" Raki asked.

"Like a Rathalos," Kou said thoughtfully. "But without the wings. And a lot smaller." He felt slightly annoyed that Raki hadn't done his homework despite knowing about the investigation three days earlier.

Given that the "Middle Floors" category didn't actually come into effect until the Thirteenth Floor and beyond, the Commander had allowed them to venture all the way to the Twelfth Floor. It was a welcomed decision by the Hunters, for there were now monsters that didn't die after one hit.

Raki had been ecstatic. With Orcs and Hard Armoreds, there were actually monsters that he could unleash his True Charge attack on, assuming none of his build-up attacks struck the head. Kou had to admit that the feeling of severing a monster's tail was just as satisfying as ever, and the ability to employ his aerial attacks and whiz around in the air to strike the three-meter-tall Orcs had made him near euphoric.

"More tracks here!" Erza's shout sounded muffled due to the Earplugs Jewel he'd been forced to wear to counter the Bad Bats' annoying cries. Through the thick fog, he could see the oddly-shaped silhouette of a human with a Hunting Hirn strapped onto their back waving to him. As he rushed over, the jingling sound of magic crystals striking one another reminded him of the fact that they had left their Palicos at Headquarters for safety reasons; it wouldn't do for them to get separated in the fog after all.

By the time he'd reached, Tiana was already kneeling. She traced her finger across the faint imprints on the ground and then brought it up to her nose to sniff it. Kou could sense her excitement. The Infant Dragon would be the largest monster they'd met so far, and Kou knew Tiana was just itching to fire a few Dragon Piercers from her Bow.

"Fresh," she concluded.

Behind him, Raki jogged up, letting out an audible sigh of relief. "Finally. We've been tracking it for nearly an hour."

Indeed they had, and it had been an extremely annoying task to do since other monsters would attack them mid-process without warning. The Infant Dragon was something like a mini-boss on the Eleventh Floor, so their numbers were few. He'd heard that there was a cap of only one or two at any given time.

Personally, Kou enjoyed the process of tracking. It reminded him that monsters were part of an ecosystem, that they had their own lives and habits, and weren't just beasts waiting to be killed. He frowned. He wasn't sure that way of thinking still applied to the Dungeon, because the monsters here seemed to spawn for no other reason than to cause trouble for humans.

They continued to follow the trail. Their Scoutflies had learnt to identify the Infant Dragon's scent, and a steady green line of fireflies now led to them to one track print after another, each new one fresher than the last. A trio of adventurers burst through the fog, their armor singed and the eyes wild with panic.

"Infant Dragon!" one of them screamed as they ran past.

Kou looked at the rest. With his nod, they ran forward, in the direction the adventurers had come from. He could feel his heart race. The Infant Dragon would be their first boss monster to fight, and he looked forward to it. He knew, given that they were still on the Upper Floors, that he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he was still excited. When he first caught sight of the Infant Dragon, he immediately stopped for a few reasons.

Firstly, the Infant Dragon was slightly bigger than he'd imagined it to be. If this was an infant, he wondered just how big the eggs were.

Secondly, no Hunter wanted to attract the attention of a monster until they were actually prepared.

Thirdly, what were the odds of bumping into Bell Cranel again?

The boy had his arm raised up, and his hand seemed to glow blue with some kind of magical energy.

"Firebolt!" the adventurer yelled out. A bullet of fire burst forth from his palm, the sheer brightness of it reminding Kou of a detonating Flashfly.

"Dragon!" Raki yelled excitedly. Kou felt like slapping the obtuse fool with his own Great Sword. Had that idiot not read the situation? The sudden new voice caused both the Infant Dragon and Bell to turn around, but the act of the former caused Bell's Firebolt attack to sail past the monster's head harmlessly as it shifted away from its trajectory.

"Bell... you missed." Another voice said, and Kou was surprised to see a red-haired man running up to Bell with Lili following closely behind. A new party member of Bell's?

He had no time to ask because the Infant Dragon roared, causing the adventurers to cover their ears from the sheer loudness of it. A small smug smile crossed his lips for an instant as he realized his Earplugs Jewel had negated the shockwave of the roar, and he expertly dodged as the monster shot a flame bullet at him. It was tiny, no bigger than his fist, and definitely nothing compared to the inferno a full-grown Rathalos could cause with a single breath. Still, it was an _Infant_ Dragon, so he supposed it was understandable. He saw the adventurers' eyes widen in alarm when they saw the flame bullet miss him but head straight for Raki, who still had a big silly grin on his face from seeing the Dragon.

Kou wasn't worried in the slightest. Even if Raki got hit, a weak attack wasn't going to do any _real_ damage. Raki was wearing armor made from Teostra, an Elder Dragon whose body literally exuded fire and explosive dust. Raki wouldn't even know he got hit. Still, despite appearances, Raki was a Hunter, and in the blink of an eye, his Wyvern Ignition Blade was already in front of him, the flat side of the blade directly blocking his entire body.

The fire attack hit the blade and fizzled out lamely. From his blocking position, Raki rolled away, revealing Tiana, who had already drawn her Bow and loaded her arrows. Kou could hear the buzzing sound of a Dragon Piercer being charged, and a moment later, a single arrow was released, flying so fast it left a sliver and glittery after-trail.

What followed sounded like fireworks being set off within the Infant Dragon as the arrow pierced through its entire torso and exited through its tail, setting off miniature explosions along the way. Its once-muscular tail was suddenly shredded, and Kou could see raw bone exposed through tattered skin, and blood sprayed through an uncountable number of wounds on its body.

The Infant Dragon let out an agonizing scream, falling to its side where it began to writhe as it tried to understand what just happened to it. Not the type to ignore free hits, the Hunters leaped into action to attack the knocked-down monster. Kou felt strength flow into his body as Erza began to play her Attack melody on her Hunting Horn, an eerie hymn promising death to whatever monster that had the misfortune to fight the party buffed by her. He sprinted forward, jamming his Glaive into the ground and using it to pole vault over the downed Dragon. At the peak of his jump, he activated the built-in jet in every Glaive, flying higher into the sky, before somersaulting downwards, using the momentum of his fall and spin to put in as much force in the axe-blade at the tip of his Glaive.

Even with the world spinning around him, Kou could make out Raki lumbering around with his gigantic sword, going straight for the tail. That idiot, did he forget that they couldn't keep and carve the tail afterwards since everything turned to dust?

He could hear Raki's triumphant yell as the tail effortlessly came off with a single cut. Normally the shock of losing a body part would break a monster out of its stupor and send it back on its feet, but Kou's Glaive was mere millimeters away from the Infant Dragon's face, so he didn't mind Raki's oversight. With a resounding crack, he felt his weapon sink through flesh and bone as easily as a hot knife through butter. The only thing that stopped him in the end was the ground, and the the Infant Dragon's severed head rolled away from its body as Kou yanked out his weapon from the crack it'd made.

As the Infant Dragon dissolved into dust, Kou found himself slightly exhilarated but mostly disappointed. It had been too fast. The thrill of a party battle on a boss had only just began before it was over.

Sighing, he slung his weapon back onto his back, mimicking the actions of the rest of his party. He empathized with their nonplussed expressions. It was barely a fight; he hadn't even gotten to use his Kinsect at all, though he knew that throwing explosions into the mix would just be overkill.

"That Dragon Piercer attack got it already. It would have died from blood loss and ruptured organs," Tiana stated.

"It was still alive afterwards," Raki smirked. "So it doesn't count."

Kou felt inclined to agree. Any breathing monster was still a dangerous monster.

"You guys didn't even give me a chance to land a hit," Erza whined. "I shouldn't have buffed you guys in the first place."

A whistle interrupted their conversation. "Honestly, Miss Hunter. It really didn't look like they needed any buffs at all." Bell's new companion, the redhead, walked up to them.

Bell was still at the side, comforting the traumatized-looking Pallum, though the relieved boy gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"I'm pretty sure one of you was enough to kill the thing by yourself," the new addition admitted, eyeing Kou in particular. "I'm Welf, by the way. Thanks for helping us out. They may not seem like it to you guys, but Infant Dragons are pretty dangerous, even to Level Twos."

"Sorry we interrupted your fight," Kou said. "I know it is frowned upon to steal another party's prey."

"Prey?" Bell suddenly appeared, the Pallum clutching his arm tightly. "We wanted to run away, but Lili here," he glanced down at his embarrassed companion, "was pinned down so we had to do something. Really, thank you so much, Hunters. You saved her life, and maybe ours, too. We owe you one."

Kou blinked. For a moment, he wasn't looking at Bell Cranel. Instead of the wiry, frail-looking white-haired boy, he saw a man white spiky white hair and a roguish grin constantly on his face. He saw Eugene and pain gripped his heart as a cartload of memories was dumped onto him.

He shook himself back to reality, where Bell's concerned face was scrunched up at him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm glad that you're all safe then" he replied. It had been a disorientating experience, truthfully, but it wasn't something he wanted to burden on the boy.

Things died down after that, and both parties silently worked on killing whatever monsters had begun to creep up on them during their brief conversation.

Kou couldn't help but notice Bell's improvement since the Minotaur. He knew the boy had levelled up, accoding to the local rumormill, but seeing the boy become faster, stronger, and more skilled really made him realize just how different adventurers and Hunters were.

With two parties, any remaining foes in the area were quickly wiped out.

"Well, I think we've had enough for today. We'll be going back up first then. See you!" Bell cried out, waving goodbye as he led his companions out. Welf offered a kind smile while Lili dipped her head slightly in thanks.

"Wow," Raki said next to him when they were gone. "What a kid. Reminds you of Eugene, doesn't he?"

Kou nodded, the pain still slowly seeping away from his mind. "He'll grow up to be a fine adventurer."

"Now then," Erza walked towards them, holding a magic crystal the size of her fist. "Who's going to be carrying this?"

Suddenly, Kou found himself to be the target of all their stares.

"The bow is lighter than the Glaive," he pointed out to Tiana.

She shrugged. "You dealt the finishing blow."

He did, hadn't he. Damn it, he should have let Raki go for the head. Or just let the Infant Dragon bleed out from the Dragon Piercer.

Ugh. If only the Commander had allowed Neko to come.


End file.
